Peter Founds Saint Petersburg: Russia's Western Window Opens
Tsar Peter I (Peter the Great) founded the city of Saint Petersburg on May 27, 1703, by laying the foundation of the Peter and Paul Fortress on a small island in the Neva River delta. The location was a desolate swamp conquered from Sweden during the Great Northern War. Construction was carried out by tens of thousands of conscripted serfs, Swedish prisoners of war, and criminals; an estimated 30,000 workers died from disease, exposure, and accidents during the building of the city. Peter transferred the Russian capital from Moscow to Saint Petersburg in 1712 to force the Russian nobility to look westward and modernize. The city served as Russia's capital until 1918 and became one of the most beautiful cities in Europe, home to the Hermitage Museum and Dostoyevsky's literary landscape.
May 27, 1703
323 years ago
Key Figures & Places
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